History Main / DeadHatShot

* In their adaptation of ''PeterAndTheWolf'', the Wolf chases the duck into a tree, and comes out with feathers flying, licking its chops. Subverted when the duck turns up alive at the end.

See also EmpathyDollShot and HatDamage.

** In the novel, and in the 1982 film, he leaves it on the parapet. Genre Savvy, apparently.

* ''{{Friday the 13th}}: [[RecycledInSpace Jason X]]'' has [[spoiler:Jason's metallic hockey mask float down to the bottom of a lake after he was incinerated in the Earth's atmosphere.]]

* ''Aliens'' uses this trope to suggest that Newt is dead after an alien grabs her. Ripley sees her doll's head sinking into the water.

* Non water variant: In Disney's ''[[{{Mulan}}]]'', the helmet of [[spoiler: Chang's father]] is found in the snow after the troop reach a destroyed town.

* Non water variant: In Disney's ''[[Mulan]]'', the helmet of [[spoiler: Chang's father]] is found in the snow after the troop reach a destroyed town.

* Non water variant: In Disney's [[''Mulan'']], the helmet of [[spoiler: Chang's father]] is found in the snow after the troop reach a destroyed town.

* Non water variant: In Disney's {{''Mulan''}}, the helmet of [[spoiler: Chang's father]] is found in the snow after the troop reach a destroyed town.

* Non water variant: In Disney's {{''Mulan''}}, the helmet of [[Chang's father]] is found in the snow after the troop reach a destroyed town.

* TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr used this in the pilot.

* ''FridayThe13th: [[RecycledInSpace Jason X]]'' has [[spoiler:Jason's metallic hockey mask float down to the bottom of a lake after he was incinerated in the Earth's atmosphere.]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''FullmetalAlchemist'' has a non-hat example when Scar's iconic jacket is found found floating in the river, covered in blood, by the military after his first fight with the Homonculi. [[FullmetalAlchemistAnime The original Anime]] has Hughes [[LampshadeHanging comment]], "We don't know if this means he's dead, or just naked." He's just naked.
** Another case is when Scar blows off Joliot Comanche's head off, and his hat and coat are seen on the water.
* In ''CaseClosed'': A criminal mastermind was betrayed by his minions and murdered, but all that was found of him was his bullet-riddled jacket, so rumors that he had just faked his death persisted years after the case, even when one of his robberies had reached the StatuteOfLimitations.
* Non-drowning example: In the anime-only arc of ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', [[ComatoseCanary Satoko]], after being visited by Ooishi realizes what happened to Rena during Great Hinamizawa Gas Disaster, where the entire village died. It shows Rena running through a forest, being chased by the Yamainu. They surround her, and one of them pulls out a knife. The next shot is Rena's bloody hat falling into the river as we hear her blood curdling scream.
[[/folder]]

* Possible variation in ''[[LegendOfZelda Twilight Princess]]'', where the BigBad, after a battle with your ExpositionFairy cum Neon spider thing of [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom DOOM]] breaks her hat and leaves it in pieces on the ground. [[IGotBetter She Gets Better]], and is returned to her full size, but only after the final battle.

* Mr. Howell faked his death on ''[[GilligansIsland Gilligan's Island]]'' by setting his hat on some quick sand.

* The ending to ''[[MegaManZero Mega Man Zero 4]]'' has a shot of Zero's damaged helmet in the dust after the space station Ragnarok disintegrates while falling to Earth. Also falls under [[NeverFoundTheBody Never Found The Body]].

* In ''The Assassination Bureau'', Bostwick and von Pinck see Sonya's fancy hat floating in the canal after telling Muntzof to kill her. They also see Muntzof's body floating nearby, so they assume that Sonya put up a fight and took him down with her. [[spoiler:Dragomiloff actually knocked Muntzof into the canal and threw Sonya's hat in the water, and they escaped together in a gondola.]]

*TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr used this in the pilot. [[spoiler:Subverted, when TheDragon returns!]]

* In the (a?) SegaGenesis ''JurassicPark'' game, if you die as Dr. Alan Grant, his iconic hat comes to rest differently depending on how he died. If you die by a standard Dino attack, he falls flat on his back, his hat falling off his head and landing perfectly on his chest. If you are [[OneHitKill eaten by a T.Rex]], only his hat remains on screen as it slowly drifts to the ground. The trope is played straight if Grant falls in water, all that is left is his hat floating on the surface.
* Possible variation in ''[[LegendOfZelda Twilight Princess]]'', where the BigBad ([[HijackedByGanon Guess who]]), after a battle with your ExpositionFairy cum Neon spider thing of [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom DOOM]] breaks her hat and leaves it in pieces on the ground. [[IGotBetter She Gets Better]], and is returned to her full size, but only after the final battle.
*''TheWorldEndsWithYou'' subverted due to a rare inversion of NeverFoundTheBody. You steal Minamoto's Hat and it acts as an InfinityPlusOneSword however his body didn't dissapear meaning he's still [[strike:alive]] [[DeadAllAlong as dead as he was for the rest of the game]].

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